Colts general manager Chris Ballard has said he believes his team will be better in October and November than they were in September. With three division games coming up, it'll be a crucial test for his team.(Photo: Matt Kryger/IndyStar)

Nine months on the job and he’s been busy. He dismembered his defense. He cut a fourth-round pick he’d drafted three months prior. He stuck with Scott Tolzien until he didn’t, then sent a first-round pick from two years ago to remedy the problem. He watched his club give up 46 in the opener, then watched it give up 46 more a few weeks later. He’s watched it scrape to a 2-3 record by beating the 0-5 Browns and the 0-5 49ers by three points apiece.

The football team Chris Ballard inherited back in January needed serious work; five weeks into this season it’s no different. Yet his Indianapolis Colts, somehow, are just a game back in the division, with a pivotal month awaiting. They’ll see all three AFC South opponents in the next 32 days. They’ve got a shot.

Ballard has pointed to this several times, and he believes it: The Colts will be a better football team in October and November than they were in September. And it’s not just the much-anticipated return of you-know-who. Ravaged by injuries in camp, the Colts are just now getting whole again. Ryan Kelly is back. Vontae Davis is back. Clayton Geathers could be back soon.

A look back and the good and the bad through Ballard’s first nine months on the job:

The Good

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) celebrates his touchdown in the first quarter of their game against the Cleveland Browns at Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday, Sept. 24 2017.(Photo: Matt Kryger/IndyStar)

>> Trading Phillip Dorsett for Jacoby Brissett on Sept. 2

Imagine where this team would be if Brissett hadn’t arrived in town the week of the opener, then took over the first-team offense a week later. Would the Colts be 0-5? Yeah, they probably would be. Even with Brissett starting the past four games, the team’s only victories are by three points over the winless Browns and the winless 49ers. But, hey, that’s the 2017 season so far for these Colts: They’ll take wins any way they can get them.

Tolzien gave the Colts no shot at victory in Week 1 in Los Angeles; that was apparent from the first quarter. Brissett does. He’s still swimming upstream, still makes too many mistakes, but his big-play potential gives the Colts a punchers’ chance. Until Luck returns, that’s all they’re gonna have.

>> Trading Dwayne Allen to the Patriots in March.

To be fair, Allen has been used primarily as a blocker in the New England offense. But it’s hard to look past his totals: six targets through five games and zero catches for an offense that’s scoring nearly 30 points a game, most in the league. Ballard was able to unload Allen’s hefty contract (he’s due nearly $12 million over the next two seasons) in favor of a more dependable tight end in Jack Doyle. That’s a win for the Colts.

>> Hitting on at least four players in his first draft

Rookie running back Marlon Mack already has three runs of 20 yards or more, one less than the Colts had as a team all of 2016.(Photo: Matt Kryger/IndyStar)

We’re only five games in, but it’s clear the players plucked by Ballard in his first draft in Indianapolis could — and maybe will — help form the backbone of this team for years to come. You see the talent, if only in flashes. First-round pick Malik Hooker swiped three interceptions in his first three starts. Second-rounder Quincy Wilson has shown starter potential at cornerback. Fourth-rounder Marlon Mack has three runs of 20 yards or more in 2017, one less than the Colts had in all of 2016, and a pair of touchdowns (and nearly two more). Fifth-rounder Nate Hairston, another cornerback, has played 189 defensive snaps, mostly in the slot, and figures to be a part of the team’s longterm plans.

You can’t miss on first- and second-rounders. That’s what buried the Colts in 2013 and 2014, and that’s why they’re paying the price now. Hitting on Hooker, Wilson, Mack and even Hairston is a good sign Ballard has carried over his eye for talent from Kansas City.

The biggest miss in last spring’s draft was fourth-rounder Zach Banner, a behemoth of an offensive tackle out of USC who failed to make the opening day roster. The jury’s still out on third-rounder Tarell Basham. He’s seen only 50 defensive snaps so far and has one tackle.

>> Signing John Simon and Jabaal Sheard (and Al Woods) in free agency

Ballard has repeated this time and again since taking over: Retooling this defense is going to take time. As in years. Two players that have helped mitigate that are Jabaal Sheard, the ex-Patriot, and John Simon, the ex-Texan. Their veteran presence, matched with weekly productivity, has aided this young defense through the ups and downs of the first month and change of the season.

Simon is third on the team in tackles — impressive from an edge linebacker spot — and has two sacks. Sheard leads the team with 2.5 sacks and is coming off his best day as a Colt versus San Francisco. Both were significant investments, and both have proven worth their value. The Colts’ linebackers room would be lost without them.

Then there’s Woods, the less heralded, less expensive (he signed a two-year deal for less than $3 million) addition to a defensive line that has vastly improved from a year ago. A unit that was 25th or worst the last two seasons in run defense is now in the top half of the league. Woods might not get the headlines, but he’s doing the dirty work. Credit Ballard for that.

The Bad

>> Sticking with Tolzien throughout the preseason

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Scott Tolzien (16) walks off the field after throwing another interception against the Los Angeles Rams during the third quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. (Photo: Matt Kryger/IndyStar)

It was clear as day to anyone who watched minicamp practices, or training camp practices, or preseason games: Scott Tolzien wasn’t going to get it done. Not in a pinch, not over a month-long stretch, not for the indefinite duration Luck would miss to start the 2017 campaign. Tolzien took all of one throw — one throw! — to bury the Colts in Los Angeles. His pick-six started the avalanche that ended in 46-9.

Why Ballard and the Colts stubbornly stuck with Tolzien while the evidence was overwhelming against them remains baffling. At its most elementary level, a general manager’s job is to give his team its best chance to win on Sundays. Starting Tolzien flies in the face of that, especially after Stephen Morris upstaged him throughout the preseason. Luckily for Ballard, Brissett’s play and poise has settled the quarterback quandary.

>> Leaving the offensive line intact

No, the offensive line isn’t fixed, as owner Jim Irsay alluded to this past summer. But is it better than in years past? Probably. Ballard repeatedly praised former General Manager Ryan Grigson’s draft haul from 2016 and the four offensive linemen that all saw regular season snaps last fall. He likes this young group and it’s potential moving forward.

Ballard did little to address the line in the offseason, spending one draft pick on Banner (who was cut) and signing guard/center Brian Schwenke (who was hurt most of the summer and later cut). The Colts, too, have suffered some bad luck. Kelly, the starting center, went down in training camp. Denzelle Good, the starting right tackle, after Week 1. And it’s fairly apparent that Jack Mewhort, the starting left guard, has been playing through an injury most of the year. Mewhort’s been far from his best.

And Brissett’s tendency to hold onto the ball for too long — something plenty of young quarterbacks struggle with — does little to mitigate the issue. The Colts’ line is sixth in the league in sacks allowed and fourth in hits, and Brissett’s avoided plenty with his feet. A bright spot: The run game. Marlon Mack, especially if the tackle can give him a sliver of daylight on the edges, has proven explosive.

>> The inside linebackers may be the worst in football

In Ballard’s defense, you can’t fix everything, certainly not in one offseason. There were more vital needs across the defense — see: pass rush — that he ably filled. But it’s clear as day through five weeks the Colts’ biggest hole on that side of the ball are the inside linebackers, especially in coverage. Offenses will continue to target and exploit this throughout the year.

The 49ers, namely quarterback Brian Hoyer and some tight end named George Kittle, roasted the Colts in the middle of the field Sunday. Hoyer went 18-for-23 for 233 yards and two touchdowns throwing to the middle, according to Pro Football Focus, and was just 11-for-21 for 120 yards throwing outside. On the year, the Colts inside linebackers — namely starters Jon Bostic and Antonio Morrison — have been targeted 43 times, allowing 37 catches for 415 yards and three touchdowns. And 198 yards after the catch.

It’s been ugly. And it’s something Chris Ballard will need to address.